Evaluation of final construction

Evaluation.
Victoria McColl

In what ways does your media product, use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My music magazine ‘StarStruckk’ is an original music magazine aimed at 15-18 year olds. In order to find a niche in the market of music magazine I created a pop magazine which isn’t widely covered by the magazine industry. This initially gives my magazine originality. However, I have stuck with the original conventions of a music magazine because I have used some of the same features. In contrast to this, I have given my magazine a celebrity interview as found in some music magazines but mainly in gossip and celebrity magazines. This then breaks through a typical convention of a music magazine. It also features a fashion feature which is again a convention of typical gossip and celebrity magazines. The appearance of my magazine is a typical layout using the design rule; rule of thirds. I have also covered the white space with advertisements as done frequently in the magazine industry. I did this because this typical convention makes my magazine appealing.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As my music magazine is aimed at 15-18 year old females ,I have made my magazine with bright colours with many advertisements to attract my audience. By using bright, attractive colours my magazine will be eye-catching and will appeal to my audience. By using many advertisements the features will be an attraction to my audience also. I have used stereotypical colours such as pink as this is a stereotypical colour for females. This is also a bright, eye-catching colour and will further the eye-catching effect my magazine has.
It represents my target audience because of the music genre I have used. There is a large percentage of rock magazines that are available to teenagers aged 15-18 whereas there are no pop music magazines. Therefore I decided to represent the majority of teenage girls who listen to pop music by using this genre for my music magazine. After conducting my research the results shown have influenced my magazine’s appearance and features.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
EMAP is a media group that connects many companies by portraying the latest news, analysis and access. It covers many different sectors of work such as retail, fashion, health, education government and media. It accesses product quality and represents many brands such as Guardian, Observer and Broadcast.
If my magazine was a real media product I would like it to be represented by EMAP because it connects many different companies and has a range of media products. My magazine genre is a niche in the market since Smash Hits! and Top of the Pops, which have been discontinued, my magazine will be filling the gap in the magazine industry and adding the wide range of magazines on offer by EMAP.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I have addressed my audience coherently through the particular colour pallet I have used in the presentation of my magazine and the features which are included in my magazine. For example, by using a stereotypical colour (pink) this immediately states that the magazine is aimed at a particular gender, in this case female. I have made the magazine seem sophisticated in the layout without it becoming too traditional through the use of bright colours which initially appeal to my age range. This also reinstates the target audience. I have used my research as an indication of the features to put in my magazine and as my questionnaire was filled out by teenagers in the target audience, it is indefinite that these will appeal to my audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the construction process I have learned how to use Photoshop more effectively and how to edit pictures to make them more eye-catching. Photoshop helped me to create my magazine that looked like a real media product by giving me a range of effects that helped me to improve images, change texts and stick to a certain colour pallet.
I also learned how to take a picture that would be more efficient and successful for my front page. I have incorporated these into my work and my cover page is now more appealing. I used the rule of thirds design rule to size my image so that the model’s eyes were two thirds up the page. She is also looking directly into the camera, therefore looking directly at the buyer appealing to them to buy the magazine.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
As you can see when viewing my preliminary task, compared to my final construction piece I have used much more Photoshop effects to make my final construction piece more effective. I have learnt how to use more successful shots to appeal to the audience and also how to use different effects on the background and text. These helped me to make my magazine seem realistic and more appealing to the audience. By changing the text I can see which fonts are appealing to my audience, for example I have chosen a sans serif font rather than a serif font as it is more eye-catching and not as formal as I feel by using a serif font I would have made the magazine too regulated and this would be more appealing to a higher age range of target audience. In my first draft I used a gradient effect on the background but after criticisms I used a plain white background as it made the magazine more sophisticated rather than the child-like look the gradient effect gave me.

Evaluation of final construction

by Victoria McColl

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